LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In response to carjackings on the rise in Louisville, a defense company in Louisville called Rhinox Research Group has developed a carjacking prevention class, which will be available to the public in August.

“The big thing that I teach here, and in every one of my courses, is conflict avoidance. I want you to avoid that danger in the first place. I don’t want you to have to defend yourself,” Aaron McGahee, owner and founder of Rhinox Research Group, told Spectrum News 1 during an interview about his defense company’s new class to educate the public on how to prevent carjackings. 

McGahee drives home three points during the course, which are situational awareness, vehicle safety and then violent encounters. The 3-hour course includes classroom instruction plus interactive exercises and demonstrations with a vehicle. 

“Situational awareness is what to do before you get in your car. Vehicle safety is how to operate a vehicle, and then violent encounters is what to do if you ever find yourself behind the eight-ball or in a violent encounter and how to react to it,” McGahee explained.

McGahee said the most important tip to avoid a carjacking is to be aware of your surroundings.

“Bring your head up; don’t be buried into your phone. Don’t be staring at the ground. Look at people…so just more situational awareness and you’ll find that you can catch a lot of things before it becomes so bad that you can’t do anything about it,” McGahee explained.

With a degree in criminal justice from the University of Louisville and over 10 years as a U.S. Air Force security forces member, McGahee said he put together the course because he cares.

“Just because I see it happening to innocent people, and I want it to stop,” McGahee said.

McGahee’s focus isn’t just to train people to help prevent carjackings, but he said it’s also to make carjacking less valuable to criminals.

“Because if enough of those criminals have a hard or difficult [time] or they fail more than they succeed, they will be less incentivized to continue the action,” McGahee explained.

And if there is less incentive, then that could translate to fewer carjackings in Louisville. 

Spectrum News 1 attended a pilot course for this story. McGahee said the 3-hour course, which costs $65, will be available for the public to take at the end of August. He said the public can start signing up for the carjacking course in mid-August on Rhinox Research Group’s website. You can also call 502-777-4130 for more info.